Thursday, 5 July 2018

Police
are hunting this suspect after a woman was sexually assaulted and
pickpocketed after stepping off a night bus in the early hours of the
morning.

The
woman had just travelled on a N73 to Walthamstow bus station on March
11 and was approached between 3.00am and 4.00am by a male.

He
began walking with her and she pushed him away when he molested her.

The
suspect ran off and the woman realised her mobile phone and bank card
was missing.

Shortly
afterwards the card was used to withdraw cash from an ATM in the
area.

The
suspect is described as a white man, approximately 5ft 8ins tall, of
slim build, in his mid to late twenties.

He
was wearing a grey hooded jumper, a black jacket and a baseball cap.

He
was carrying a small ‘man bag’ and wore distinctive trainers with
reflectors on the toecaps.

Anyone
who recognises the man in the image or has information they believe
could be of significance is asked to contact officers at the Child
Abuse and Sexual Offence Command on 020 8733 5999, or via 101 quoting
reference 1397/11Mar.

As a security guard took him to the cells Henderson, who has repaid all the money, begged the judge: “Please reconsider.”

At a conference earlier this year Henderson was talking tough about companies punished for failing to enforce anti-money laundering regulations.

“I don’t have any sympathy for them. They’re very small fines for people doing a lot of wrong,’ he said. “You’re in a position of trust, you need to protect your staff, you need to protect your customers.”

He is open about his former undercover career with the NCA in his professional online profile.

Southwark Crown Court heard a credit card taken from secure storage was used at cashpoints on six occasions - for the maximum £500 each time - plus a £90 fee.

Prosecutor Miss Kerry Broome told the court: “Mr. Henderson was a NCA officer and had access to credit cards used by the agency.

“He worked with one other person and had access to the secure storage area and the PIN numbers.”

On November 15, 2016 his colleague was informed of suspicious activity on the credit card, with the PIN being used to withdraw cash.

“The card was still at the NCA and when Mr. Henderson was confronted he confessed he used the card.

“He accepted he had taken the card and the PIN and persuaded a friend to make cash withdrawals,” added Miss Broome.

The friend was questioned by police, but no charges were brought.

“He said he knew his friend was a police officer and he did it because he trusted him.

“A mobile phone had also been ordered on the NCA account and taken by Mr. Henderson for his own use.

“He immediately accepted that he had taken the money and bought the mobile phone.

“The money has not been paid back, but I understand Mr. Henderson is willing to do so,” explained Miss Broome.

“He said his father asked him for money to pay household bills and his father was spoken to and confirmed he had asked for money, but was vague about the amounts.

“Not all the money went to Henderson snr.

“The defendant no longer works for the NCA.”

Judge Taylor told him: “You did not immediately accept the offences, you denied them. It is only when confronted with the evidence that you did accept it.

“There was some attempt to conceal evidence and a risk of suspicion falling on a co-worker.

“These are serious offences involving theft from an employer who gave you access and placed you in a position of trust.”

Thursday, 28 June 2018

A pensioner has been banned from his communal rear gardens after a harassment campaign against his neighbour, who claims he was jealous of her collecting their leafy borough’s ‘In Bloom’ prize.

Retired employment agency boss Michael Oram, 73, can now only enjoy his plants and flowers from his living-room window or by peering over the garden wall.

The private Winchester College-educated Kew Gardens volunteer found himself in the dock at Wimbledon Magistrates Court charged with causing criminal damage to ‘grass’ belonging to his downstairs neighbour.

Twice-married granddad Oram, of The Barons, Twickenham was cleared after magistrates ruled basement neighbour Jasmine McMurdo, 55, exaggerated the alleged destruction on September 27, last year.

However Oram, whose King’s Road, Chelsea agency supplied domestic staff to the aristocracy and the rich and famous, was convicted of causing her harassment between January 19 and July 31, last year.

He was sentenced to six weeks imprisonment, suspended for a year and was made subject to a two-year Criminal Behaviour Order, which bans him from the rear gardens.

He must also pay £500 compensation to Ms McMurdo, plus £998 for damaging her floor, which he was convicted of deliberately flooding and £500 costs.

Ms McMurdo collected the silver prize from the mayor of Richmond-upon-Thames for their ‘Borough in Bloom’ competition last year, Oram having also received silver for the property’s front garden.

Neighbour: Jasmine McMurdo

“You did that out of spite didn’t you?” prosecutor Ms Roz Wardell asked Oram. “You deliberately pulled up her plants. You have a vendetta against Ms McMurdo don’t you?”

Oram was filmed on a security camera pulling at the lawn behind Ms McMurdo’s flat. “The CCTV shows and elderly man removing dead foliage and weeds,” he told the court.

“When I moved in it was a jungle of brambles, an utter mess. I’ve been tending this garden since 2006 when it was an utter wreck.

“Through blood, sweat and tears and my own cost and energy I have brought it back to the garden we have today.”

Oram says he was forced to move into his flat after losing his £3m Richmond Hill home in a divorce many years ago after having an affair with he and his wife’s attractive Peruvian au pair.

“Richmond prides itself on its green-fingered inhabitants and its parks and is one of the best areas to live in London.

“I was sad that I did not have the chance to collect the prize from the mayor.

“Ms McMurdo collected it and has been claiming it was a prize she gained, which I dispute. She’s not won an award for gardening, can you produce a certificate with her name on it?

“Ms McMurdo doesn’t know anything about plants whatsoever. In fact they were planted by a previous tenant who cared for that garden.

Prize-Winner: Oram Outside Court

“These gardens are kept by me. I spend all my disposable income on it. I do love the gardens.

“This year I’m hoping to win the gold medal.

“I was removing plants that were past their prime and plants that were growing over the communal pathway.

‘I was weeding the lawn, taking out dandelions and moss that are destructive to the lawn.

“This has been completely twisted. Everything is twisted against me.

“This case has been brought to damage and discredit me. Ms McMurdo is paranoid and has left signs for me next to plants on sticks.

“She also left me a note saying saying that she did not like to see me reclining in my bathing costume in the Summer.

“It is insulting for a man of my age and my high-birth and high-education compared to some people in this case who can’t even spell properly.

“I’m up against people who hate me,” added Oram, claiming his car and garden rockery has been vandalised.

“I’ve put up with hell and high water from this woman. It’s a vendetta.”

He denied deliberately drilling holes in his bathroom floor to flood Ms McMurdo. “There were faults with my washing machine.”

Even though still subject to a restraining order after a previous harassment conviction against the neighbour Oram insisted: “She issued death threats to me with a broken bottle to cut my neck.”

Clearing Oram of criminal damage magistrate Mr. David Martin announced: “Ms McMurdo said he tore up clumps of Umbrella Bamboo and Lavender, but we do not see that on the CCTV.”

When making the ‘Crimbo’ order against Oram the pensioner told the magistrate: “They are trying to extinguish the basic right of an Englishman to be in his garden.”

Ban: Oram Cannot Set Foot In Garden

Ms McMurdo said: “I have suffered harassment over the years. Mr. Oram has targeted me to drive me out and I have often been in tears.

“He has tried to make my flat uninhabitable and had now turned to vandalising my vegetables and flowers.”

She said Oram sent her a text warning: “If we don’t find peace the future is going to be very grim for you and your son.”

The NHS employee added: “I’ve been torn in two. I feel so unsafe with Mr. Oram living above me.

“I feel on edge all the time. I have a feeling of dread in my chest. I never know what I’m going to walk into.

“I just wait for something to happen. I have no enjoyment at being at home anymore.”

Tuesday, 26 June 2018

A woman who continued claiming four different benefits while abroad during a three-and-a-half year scam has received a suspended prison sentence.

Lorraine Thomas, 60, of Bevington Road, North Kensington claims she had to flee the UK due to violent domestic abuse.

Thomas pleaded guilty to five separate counts of dishonestly failing to disclose information to the Department of Work & Pensions and the London Borough of Kensington & Chelsea, namely that she was not a UK resident.

She was sentenced to nine months imprisonment, suspended for eighteen months.

The prosecution were given seven days to consider any application for compensation.

The charges relate to claims for Income Support; Employment Support Allowance; Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit between February 22, 2012 and August 2, 2015.

Friday, 22 June 2018

The head of anti-money laundering at Mayfair’s Ritz Hotel Casino, who stole £3,000 while a serving police officer, has had sentencing adjourned for a probation report.

Alex Henderson, 31, was a counter-terrorism, drugs and money laundering investigator with the National Crime Agency (NCA) before he was caught withdrawing lump sums from their account.

He appeared on bail at Southwark Crown Court, where Judge Jeffrey Pegden QC ordered a pre-sentence report.

“Yes, he’s a man of good character, but it is a serious case,” said the judge, ordering Henderson to return on June 29.

He pleaded guilty to stealing £3,090 from the NCA between October 13 and November 4 2016, plus a Samsung Galaxy S7 mobile phone, worth £408 between September 19 and 30.

Henderson, of Princes Park Lane, Hayes admitted the offences at his first appearance at Westminster Magistrates Court.

At a conference earlier this year Henderson was talking tough about companies punished for failing to enforce anti-money laundering regulations.

“I don’t have any sympathy for them. They’re very small fines for people doing a lot of wrong,’ he said. “You’re in a position of trust, you need to protect your staff, you need to protect your customers.”

He is open about his former undercover career with the NCA in his professional online profile.

A credit card taken from secure storage was used at cashpoints on six occasions - for the maximum £500 each time - plus a £90 fee.